AMBITIOUS plans for a state-of-the-art business park which could generate thousands of jobs for Colchester have been revealed.Sister and brother Rosemary Burwood and John Warren are hoping to transform their land just off the A12 at Stanway into a development providing up to 3,700 jobs over the next decade.

AMBITIOUS plans for a state-of-the-art business park which could generate thousands of jobs for Colchester have been revealed.

Sister and brother Rosemary Burwood and John Warren are hoping to transform their land just off the A12 at Stanway into a development providing up to 3,700 jobs over the next decade.

And with the town required to create 14,200 new vacancies by 2021, the scheme would go a long way towards that goal.

Outline planning proposals have been lodged with Colchester Borough Council and it is hoped the project could be underway by the second half of next year.

Stane Park would be a 16.9-acre “gateway” to the town with its “striking and colourful” buildings designed to have a positive first impact as people come off the A12 into the town.

The project, which has been designed by Plater Claiborne, is aimed at small and medium size businesses and offers the option of allowing companies to expand within the site.

Stane Park includes “incubator” units of 250 sq ft to 500 sq ft, for small companies, as well as “grow on” and “graduation” units of more than 1,000 sq ft for expanding and large businesses.

Simon Plater, partner at Plater Claiborne, said the park would give businesses flexibility as they grew, allowing them to stay at the site for as long as 10 years, rather than having to move on to find new space.

It is thought that the site would be the first of its kind in Essex and it is hoped that it will become Colchester's first “true enterprise hub” thanks to its proximity to the A12.

The plans only went into the borough council on May 26 so it remains to be seen if there will any local opposition to the scheme which also includes a 100-place day nursery and small restaurant.

Mr Plater said: “Here the object is to keep them on site and in Colchester rather than moving on to places such as Braintree or Ipswich.

“It is next to the A12 and the new western by-pass and it would be one of the best employment sites because of its access to trunk roads.”

An outline planning application has gone into Colchester Borough Council and a consultation period will follow shortly.